The Rider
by RyansKid
Summary: General Fury asks Professor Charles Xavier to read the mind of a man who helped save the Ultimates from Loki's hordes. But who is this mysterious stranger? Set shortly after Ultimates 2: Grand Theft America. R
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own any of the characters in this story.**

"What exactly is this all about General Fury? I saw on the television that Bruce is back. Does this have anything to do with him?"

Walking through the hastily reconstructed holding cells of S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters in New York City were two of the most powerful men on the planet, though they were very different in terms of their type of power. General Nick Fury had command of the most powerful government agency on the planet with a near limitless budget, while Professor Charles Xavier was a mutant who possessed the strongest mind on Earth.

"No. Banner seems to have his shit squared away."

"What's going to happen to him? Will they attempt another execution?"

"Kill a guy who helped save the United States of America? I don't think so. We've had him locked up since the final battle with Loki and the Liberators, but he's being released today."

"Well then what exactly am I here for General?"

"We need you to pry someone's mind open."

Fury continued walking, failing to notice Xavier had stopped.

"General you know that is something I absolutely will not do."

The S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander sighed and turned to look at the most powerful mind on the planet. It was vital that he convince Xavier into doing this.

"Charles how much do you know about the fight against Loki?"

"Only what I read in the papers General. Something about Thor returning and doing battle with his half-brother, thus preventing the end of the world."

"Well that's not exactly true."

"What do you mean?"

"Even with Thor's Asgardian reinforcements, we were still getting our asses beat up and down the mall. Next thing I know I'm hearing com-chatter about how something is coming from the west at over five hundred miles an hour. You know what this guy does when he shows up? He almost single handedly wipes out Loki's army. Then he goes into hand to hand with Loki himself and beats the piss out of him before Thor finishes him off."

Xavier didn't have to read Fury's mind to know he was telling the truth. The look on the General's face was one he reserved for the most serious of discussions and Xavier knew it.

"Why do I need to read his mind?"

"Well he's told us who he is, that all seems to check out. Thor believes the story he's told. Hell even Banner vouched for him. Apparently they ran into each other out in the New Mexico desert while Banner was on his way back here."

"But you're having a hard time believing him?"

"Can you blame me? I can't have another Black Widow situation on my hands. And with a metahuman this powerful, I just need to be one hundred percent before I let him run around with Tony Stark."

"Alright General. I'll help. But I want to speak with him first."

The two men continued down the hallway in silence. They passed through steel doors ten feet thick, laced with adamantium. They walked passed dozens of armed guards. They even strolled by a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s very own super-soldiers. Finally they came to the holding cell.

"Alright on your feet. I said get your ass up."

Xavier watched as a leather clad young man kicked his feet off the bed and looked around. He had piercing blue eyes and reddish-blonde hair.

"Hello young man. I'm Professor Charles Xavier."

The young man smiled at the Professor. It was the kind of smile that makes a person want to be best friend's with the kid. It was the kind of smile that could melt girl's hearts.

"Hi Professor. I'm Johnny Blaze."


	2. Chapter 2

"Right. So Mr. Blaze why don't…"

"Call me Johnny."

"Alright then…Johnny. General Fury has asked me here in order to confirm the story you have relayed to him. It seems that you are a metahuman of considerable ability."

"Why do I have to tell you huh? I've already told it five or six times. What part are these S.H.I.E.L.D. boys having troubles with?"

"Well Johnny, you have to tell me so that your story can be proven without a doubt. And you see, I am the only one who can do that."

In the blink of any eye Johnny Blaze found himself standing in a great white expanse. He could make out no landmarks, no sky, no stars, no wind. Just white going on towards oblivion, and in the distance a low, consistent humming. Johnny was startled when the Professor appeared standing beside him.

"What the hell? How are…what's going on here? Who are you?"

"I told you Johnny. I am Professor Charles Xavier, a mutant. I am the most powerful telepath on the planet. This place here…"

The Professor smiled to himself, walking around and gesturing to the expanse with his arms.

"Well this is your mind."

"My…mind?"

"Yes Johnny your mind. At the moment there is nothing here, it is empty. That is no slight at you dear boy. I simply have not yet chosen to pull anything to the forefront yet. I need to prepare you."

"The forefront? So that humming I hear all around…that's what? My thoughts?"

"Oh it is so much more than that Johnny. That humming is every thought, daydream, nightmare, fantasy, and memory you have ever had. And the latter is something of particular interest to us. We need to ensure that what you have been saying is true, and I will do that by going over your memories with you."

Johnny squatted down and made sure there was an actual ground for him to sit on before flopping down. He then looked up towards the Professor.

"I have to be honest hear Professor, this seems a little impersonal."

"Yes I agree. Usually I wouldn't do anything of this sort, it's a violation of ethics. But S.H.I.E.L.D. can't risk a metahuman of your power running around without assurance that you're on the right side."

A chuckle sneaked out under Johnny's breath. But the chuckle soon grew into full blown laughter. He gripped his sides and rolled about as if he had just heard the greatest joke in the long history of jokes. Xavier was less than amused.

"You know you keep saying that. That whole metahuman of great power thing. What did Fury tell you?"

"That you destroyed Loki's army almost entirely by yourself before brutally beating the God of Mischief himself. Obviously that takes an abnormal amount of physical power, perhaps even more than Bruce Banner's Hulk persona. So you can understand why…"

"Physical power? Yeah I suppose I'm pretty strong, but I didn't take out Loki's army by punching them all in the face."

"I'm not following you."

Johnny again began to laugh uncontrollably.

"So Fury didn't tell you anything about the magic?"

"Magic?"

"He didn't mention anything about the Rider?"

"No. What Rider?"

Blaze hopped up and threw his arm around the shoulder of Xavier.

"Well, well, well Professor. It appears you've been played for a sap. I wouldn't worry about it though. From what Bruce told me he does this sort of thing quite often."

Xavier ripped himself away from Blaze's grasp. He was furious, at both General Fury and himself. Xavier should have known better than to trust Fury. Now he had been made a laughingstock. An object of amusement for a twenty-something year old buffoon in a leather jacket. He would most certainly ask Fury who this Rider was, and why Blaze was babbling about magic. And he might just erase any memory Fury had of S.H.I.E.L.D. access codes just to teach him a lesson.

"If you'll excuse me Johnny. I have to go and have a conversation with General Fury. I will return momentarily."

"Oh don't go Professor. I mean why don't we just do what you were planning on now? You can always yell at Fury later. I mean you'll learn all about the Rider soon enough anyway."

"Well…I suppose. I must warn you though Johnny, I will have to pull everything to the front of your mind in order to sort out what we need. It can be a bit…overwhelming."

Blaze stretched his arms high above his head, cracked his neck and his knuckles, and looked at Xavier with a big smile.

"What's the worst that can happen?"

This time it was Xavier's turn to laugh. He concentrated and pulled all the contents of Johnny Blaze's mind to the front immediately. Johnny fell to his knees screaming as he relived every instance of love, fear, excitement, sadness, and pain he had ever had in his life all at once.

But Xavier found something else. Something that was hiding deep down in the back of Johnny's mind. It wasn't a totally sentient entity, that much Xavier could tell. But it was an entity none the less. One driven by a simple instinct to seek and destroy.

It came forth from the darkest part of Blaze's mind. It came in the image of a flaming skull.


	3. Chapter 3

Xavier had never experienced anything like what was hurtling towards him from the depths of Blaze's subconscious. It was so strong. Maybe the strongest thing Xavier had ever come in contact with. However this entity couldn't be reasoned with. It couldn't be controlled. It had just one all encompassing thought, and that rendered the Professor's powers useless.

The monstrous apparition barreled towards the Professor, who had no clue what to do except to leave Blaze's mind. Of course that would leave Johnny's unconscious self at the mercy of the monster in front of him. But before Xavier could make his decision a figure stood up behind him. The Professor could feel the intense heat radiating off of him, almost like he was on fire. Xavier, who turned expecting to see Johnny Blaze, soon understood why the air around him was scorching.

Standing there was a thing the size of Johnny Blaze, wearing the clothes that Johnny Blaze had been wearing, but it wasn't him. White-hot fire billowed from behind the wife-beater Blaze had been wearing. Spurs from another time clanked as heavy boots pushed past Xavier. But what unsettled Xavier the most was this new things head. It was as if the fire in its chest had worked its way up and melted away its flesh, leaving nothing but a flaming skull.

What Xavier now understood to be Johnny Blaze took a position between himself and the creature, the demon, speeding towards them. He then raised a skeletal hand, shrouded in flame as well, and pointed his bony finger at the demon.

"**Yo****U**"

Before Blaze had even finished speaking a motorcycle that looked as if it had just escaped from Hell came roaring over the endless white horizon, coming to rest at the skeleton's side. Blaze straddled the chopper and revved the engine before roaring off to meet the monster head on.

Xavier was finally starting to realize what exactly Johnny had been talking about when he spoke of the Rider.

When the two demons struck each other the Professor was thrown back from the resulting shockwave. The battle that would follow could be described as nothing short of epic. It was nothing like anything Xavier had ever seen. It was the heart of a raging inferno. It was the eruption of a super-volcano. It was the birth of a universe and the death of a million stars all at once. And when it was over, the Rider stood victorious.

The Rider took chains from his motorcycle and wrapped them around the defeated demon. He got back onto his chopper, his adversary's bonds in hand, and sped back in the direction the thing had come from.

Xavier stood there in disbelief. Try as he might to explain away what he had just seen as some figment of Blaze's imagination, as some kind of battle for mental dominance between two split personalities, he just couldn't. Before he knew it the motorcycle could be heard, and a few moments later the Rider was in view once more. He stopped his bike just short of the Professor and dismounted.

Had Xavier been in his own body he surely would have vomited. As Blaze walked towards him the fire in his chest died and he was nothing but a skeleton as white as the abyss around them. Then his tissues slowly started to grow back. Blazes circulatory system was first, then his organs and muscles, and finally his skin. When it was finished Blaze grimaced in obvious pain and collapsed.

"My God!"

"No, no Professor. Not God."

"Johnny? Are you all right son?"

Even as every nerve in his body screamed in torment Blaze couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Pain? My entire body was just covered in Hellfire. Why would I be in pain?"

"Well it appears we're safe now, thanks to you. What was that monster?"

Blaze stood up and grabbed Xavier by the lapels of his suit jacket, lifting the frail old man into the air with ease.

"You're a damn fool you know that! Why didn't you warn me? Do you have any idea what would have happened if he had escaped? Don't you have any idea what Zarathos can do?"

Johnny then seemed to come to his sense. He set the Professor back down and dusted him off, smiling softly in a feeble attempt to express his apologies.

"I'm sorry Professor Xavier, of course you don't know. How could you?"

Blaze fell to the ground and buried his face in his hands. He was embarrassed. Ashamed. But more than anything he was afraid. It had been so long since he had done battle with Zarathos that he had forgotten how powerful the demon was. Johnny had almost lost the fight.

"You're right Johnny. I have no idea. But you can show me. Let me help you."

Xavier stretched his hand down, offering it to Blaze. He eagerly took it.

"So Johnny…am I to understand that you are the…"

Johnny Blaze help up his hand to silence the Professor and nodded.

"I'm Ghost Rider."


End file.
